post_apocalypse_story/notes/story.md

**Big-picture story overview:**

* Story begins on Tue, 2106-06-01
* \[partial\] Jack wakes up and contacts Annie, in the end he asks for a manual for the door
* \[partial\] Annie goes to the library but doesn’t get the manual - instead she gets a mysterious invite
* \[missing\] Annie talks to Jack again at work 
  * Annie figures out how to use a keyboard properly
  * Potentially written from Jack’s perspective as not much of interest happens on Annie’s side 
    * he could do something else as well, maybe working on improvising tools before or after talking to Annie
* \[partial\] Annie gets introduced to secret organization, learns that Karl is also part of it
* \[partial\] Lucas gives Annie the keys for the library and instructions on where to find the relevant computers 
  * for some reason he can’t go get the manual himself (needs to be at an important event or something)
  * Karl doesn’t join bc he can’t run if things go south, but he does give her a list of useful UNIX commands and a run-down of how to get one of these computers started
  * They talk about Jack and why they would help him
* \[partial\] Annie gets the manual and drops it off at Karl’s place 
  * she puts a note and the floppy disk into his mailbox
* \[missing\] Next morning from Jack’s perspective 
  * incoming connection from Karl
  * he says that Annie has procured a floppy disk with the manual 
    * it’s not readable / the file is just gibberish
    * Jack gets a copy of the header and determines it’s encrypted
    * he tells Karl that he can probably write a program to break the encryption but it’s gonna take a powerful computer to do it within a reasonable time 
      * need technical reason why one wouldn’t just wait 
        * home computers are several times slower due to hardware disadvantages but this can’t be the only reason
        * high resource overhead? maybe he would use vast amounts of RAM?
    * Karl says he’ll get back to Jack
* \[missing\] Next secret organization meetup 
  * Annie gives the keys back
  * they come up with the idea of stealing a minicomputer from some company that someone has a link to
  * also the idea comes up that they could ask Jack to help them in return for them helping him to get out
  * has to end with law enforcement arriving at the bar for an unrelated reason and Kate telling them to gtfo
* \[partial\] Emily intro 
  * Emily wakes up, Lena is in her room crying 
    * introduces that ppl die from some disease on the moon
  * breakfast
  * funeral
* \[missing\] Annie talks to Jack again from the terminal at work 
  * she falls asleep
  * next day she gets found there, someone makes a remark like "Why the sudden career change?" 
    * Annie thinks about it for a moment before replying "Actually, brilliant idea..." and quitting
    * She leaves work and heads somewhere to meet up with secret organization members
* \[missing\] secret organization does secret organization things... 
  * new location (because day)
  * who is there?
  * preparations for the heist
  * plans for Annie to meet Jack 
    * Jack will need some secret documents to help them (for messing with the power supply of the city)
    * they decide to meet on a train 
      * Jack says he knows ways to get in and out
* \[missing\] Jack finishes writing the program and sends it to Karl
* \[missing\] the heist 
  * Annie, Isabelle, Lucas, and the inside contact go in and collect equipment and bring it to the front door
  * Karl’s friend is waiting to load it into the back of his pickup truck
  * Karl is behind the wheel ready to take off
  * once everything is loaded up, Karl’s friend gets into the truck and everyone disperses in different directions
  * they almost get caught 
    * Maybe Lucas and one other member of the secret organization stay behind to buy the others time and get arrested
* \[missing\] next morning, they set up the computer at Karl’s place 
  * something in the news about a stolen computer lol
  * "Hmm I wonder who could that have been? We wouldn’t know where it is..."
  * they break the encryption of the floppy disk (takes like three days)
* *\[missing\] some moon scene, possibly something that shows that Lena doesn’t like the lab mice*
* \[missing\] Jack gets the bunker door open and wakes up Michelle 
  * they explore the Ivydale area
  * find a working metro train somewhere that only needs some mild fixing up 
    * This may or may not remain unknown to Annie
* \[missing\] meanwhile, the secret organization works on getting the computer equipment back to its rightful owners 
  * they get caught and run/gtfo, leaving the computer at the front entrance
  * there will have to be another news segment, something like this: 
    * "In a bizarre turn of events, members of a suspected terrorist group have returned the stolen computer to xyz corp. It had been stolen from their headquarters four days prior..."
* \[partial\] Annie meets Jack 
  * Jack drives a train into the dome
  * original plan was to meet on a train and hand over the documents
  * things go wrong and Annie ends up leaving the dome with Jack
  * Annie sees the outside world for the first time
* \[missing\] James the nomad shows up with his dog 
  * only Michelle is there, Jack and Annie are still on their way
  * He is mildly obsessed with space after seeing all sorts of images taken with telescopes
  * on his way to Sentinel Shores because the observatory there is supposedly somewhat intact 
    * he wants to see if he can make a telescope work
    * Something happens that will convince him to stay at the bunker 
      * possibly the topic of the moon base gets discussed
* \[missing\] Jack and Michelle will be working on getting in touch with the moon 
  * turns out their communications dish and equipment is far too gone to be repaired due to a river changing course or some other destructive event
  * James suggests they should check out the observatory in Sentinel Shores
* \[missing\] They go on a "day trip" to Sentinel Shores to take a look at the observatory 
  * looks good but missing any kind of computer equipment (looted after or removed before the apocalypse)
  * has an optical telescope and a dish
  * when talking about the lack of computers, the nomad remembers that he saw a lot of computer stuff in Rogue Tides
* *... missing things (not in order):* 
  * *power plant shenanigans* 
    * *secret organization has to do things like putting up banners in high-profile locations and/or distribute a manifesto*
    * *power has to go out for a while - or completely until someone fixes the power plant (could be that something breaks while they start up the plant again)*
    * *has to result in the dome city opening up*
    * *IDEA: "The power will be going out on <date> for critical maintenance that you have neglected to do for a century. Shame on you for sticking your heads in the sand instead of facing the problems of the outside world."*
  * *the protagonists move to Sentinel Shores* 
    * *Originally I was thinking they might move to a factory hall or hangar or maybe even one of the lower levels of a sky scraper but it might be more realistic that they just move into the observatory as it’s where they work on stuff*
  * *Annie has never been on a boat so they fix one up and hop over to Rogue Tides*
  * *encounter the electronics tinkerer*
  * *problematic encounter with one of the groups/tribes/whatever* 
    * *the members have gone nuts and are religious fanatics*
    * *They see Jack’s Neotek Dynamics company clothes and start treating him as an evil god* 
      * *try really hard to stop him from leaving or doing anything*
    * *cause for them to be more cautious? Idk*
  * *neutral encounter with the other one* 
    * *trading or bartering*
  * *getting the telescope and the dish going*
  * *first contact with moon*
  * *Lena dies*
  * *Emily takes off from the moon*
  * *\[done, needs revision\] Emily lab incident*
  * *they have to, at some point, climb on a sky scraper - maybe even multiple times*
* Emily enters the atmosphere 
  * something goes wrong - either fuckup or technical failure or both
  * she realizes that she is descending waay too fast and tries mentally going through the emergency checklist
* Emily lands

**Individual missions:**

* Underground organization (Annie, Librarian, Karl) 
  * from the underground city
  * want the underground city to open up again
  * they come up with the plan that Annie should escape the city since she has the contact with Jack anyway so that they can gather some intelligence on what’s going on outside
  * Annie discovers the hydro power plant - they end up messing with the power supply of the dome to force officials to stop the isolation
* Neotek Dynamics (Jack, Michelle) 
  * mission to get into contact with moon base to check in on them
  * turns out the moon base is having a real bad time and everyone is dying
  * There used to be many ppl but at the start of the story just a few are left 
    * the rest died of some disease caused by a dangerous pathogen
    * the remaining ppl are infected and sick
    * all but Emily will die
    * Emily will recover and make her way down to Earth in an escape capsule 
      * she escapes the capsule with a parachute and the capsule leaves a crater in the ground
* James 
  * has found space images and is mildly obsessed with them
  * has heard of a somewhat intact observatory in Sentinel Shores

**Scene ideas:**

* Annie, in her search for an alternative to whatever the underground city has as "coffee", obtains some drug from the electronics tinkerer. She proceeds to get high as the sky and gets herself into a dangerous situation before the others catch on to what’s happening. Jack will end up more or less forcing her back to the base and sit there watching her so she doesn’t do anything stupid.
* Emily wakes up. A relative is waiting in her room, silently crying. Emily, catching on to what’s going on (and having experienced the bad news of the past how ever many weeks, months, or years), asks who died this time. Some other person, Idk. That leaves 5 alive ppl in the moon base. 
  * Followed by a moon funeral? Idk.
* When Emily recovers (in a different chapter), Lena says something to the effect of "that should have killed you". 
  * same chapter should have a dialog about how Lena took care of the mice despite originally not being too fond of them
* Lena dies sitting against a boulder next to the grave of her spouse. Emily sits there with her, periodically exchanging oxygen canisters until she dies. They talk over the radio. Lena tells her that she was ultimately right to use what Tony had left behind but it is too late for her now. After she dies, Emily returns to the base and lies down on the floor in a central room looking out though the ceiling for who knows how long (not eating or drinking for like 6h or so). 
  * Something should happen that gets her to get up and realize how incredibly hungry she is - possibly an incoming call / terminal beep from Earth
* Emily is alone, preparing for her descent to Earth. As part of the preparations, she releases the remaining lab mice into the biosphere module (they came from there originally).